Welcome

Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

I like Sonatas. They are chemical cousins of Ambien, but don't typically cause the wierd dreams that Ambien can cause. Like Ambien, however, they are metabolized in the system within a few hours- so you won't have a major hangover from taking one the night before. They don't tend to make you feel like you're getting groggy (at least they don't with me). I just tend to feel like fluffing my pillow and then...whaddya know? Morning already? If you have had good experiences with Ambien, you'll likely find these satisying. Ambien didn't make me go to sleep unless I took a whopper amount. These do.

You don't say why you switched from the original Ambien to the CR. I'd be careful about taking big amounts of it. It may not be making you feel sleepy now, but it could keep you knocked out heavy once you DO get to sleep.

I have tried Rozerem, Lunesta, and Ambien CR. I seem to respond well to Lunesta. The Rozerem makes me dream (kind of like taking Sustiva) - that's why if you notice the marketing they "if you can't sleep you can't dream."

I find I have to be tired and that helps me fall asleep....otherwise if I just take a sleeping pill and don't just automatically go unconscious and wake up the next day refreshed. I use them only when I absolutely need to get some sleep (e.g. I'm staying away overnight at a place other than my bed).

I have never had to use any sleeping medications yet, so I am not that knowledgeable. However ,I did post this topic. It's a little further down the page. I don't know if you will find it beneficial or not ;

ambien CR is time release, so your getting a small low dose continiously which isn't working for you.

You really should just get plain Ambien. The new formula CR often is done to try to extend the drug companies patent on the formulation. Even though time release of ambien is for keeping you asleep so you don't wake up, which I've never had a problem with with ambien. I used to break the 10 mg tabs in half and half again 2.5 mg which was enough to work for me.

Since it was announced as a generic version, you may even find that the cost for ambien from the original maker may drop in response. Or you can just go generic and save a bundle.

My experience w/Lunesta is be prepared to take it every night. If I took it one night, I absolutely could not fall asleep ... even for a minute... the next night... would finally nod off around 7am. What a great drug... you take it once and you're hooked. I vote for Restoril, but it's physically addictive... but it seems to work best if you only want to take it every now and then... and you can sleep the next night without it... and less hangover than the others... which is a problem when you only take this stuff every now and then. If you take the stuff every night, I think your body becomes used to it... so, like alcohol, the hangovers are diminished with more frequent usage.

i vote Restoril. i took it every night for 3 months straight and dropped it the night i switched out Sustiva and i have slept great since. don't know if i was lucky to not have withdrawls, i get strung out to everything easy. 15mg a night worked great and there is a lower dose 7.5mg or a 30mg if needed.

my doctor tried to push 50mg of the seroquel i said no thanks give me the restoril and i'm glad he did. it worked for me. i never heard of seroquel, of course i researched it later. Glad i stuck to my guns.

my doctor tried to push 50mg of the seroquel i said no thanks give me the restoril and i'm glad he did. it worked for me. i never heard of seroquel, of course i researched it later. Glad i stuck to my guns.

your doctor tried to push for seroquel for sleep?! or what?

seroquel is a potent anti-psychotic. not intended for a sleep aid (though it does have the ability to knock you in the dirt for that as a side effect).

good grief! that is ONE HELL of an off label use for this drug. i was not joking when i said a 200 mg could knock a guy out for a weekend. even a 25 mg can make you groggy enough that you don't want to get off the couch all the next day.

as a matter of fact it was 25mg he gave a 50mg sample that i was to break n half. never took it. too scared after what i read. i dunno i told him sustiva made irritable and grouchy with insomnia so maybe he thought i was a little crazy. i held out for restoril.

It basically justs balances out Serotonin levels- doesnt completely rescramble your noggin or anything. It does come off in print somewhat more ominous than it really is. It's just that it has a potent sleep side effect. That's my biggest eyebrow raise for it being prescribed. Not one to take without a certainty of plenty of sleep time available.

I always thought the name was kinda funny: Seroquel.

As in "Serotonin" and "Quell"...quell that little psychotic episode with a quickness!

I can't take ambien during the week as I get up before 6 AM every day for work...On weekends I take it to try to "catch up" on sleep which really is not possible, as lost sleep is what it is. But I do enjoy my one 10 mg of it and a half hour after taking it sometimes I can sleep standing up ...I often find myself on the sofa with a cup of water in my hand..Sometimes stuff is all over the floor like my eyeglasses or the remote and other things and I am usually pretty neat about stuff being in its place...I still don't remember a post I made recently and that scares me...I miss the days of my youth when I slept like a baby with no pills necessary, I envy adults who can do that, my mind and my spirit are just too restless for such natural comforts anymore.

Jody

Logged

"Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world". "Try to discover that you are the song that the morning brings."

I've tried 'em all....hate the groggy effects of Restoril....the "limited time offer" that ambien provides....the lame butterfly presented by Lunesta....but the Seroquel....now that has been an amazing drug....in moderation....for me. I take a 25 mg tablet and cut it in half so 12.5mg is perfect! I know higher dosing is for heavy duty situations only but like many things MODERATION is the key for me! If I really want a killer nights sleep I do half an ambien (5mg) with half a seroquel (12.5mg) and it's (almost) better than sex!

Seroquel is being prescribed more and more by M.D.'s for difficult insomnia cases. I'm a case in point. After Ambien stopped working for me, and Lunesta and Rozerem did absolutely nothing, my psychiatrist prescribed Seroquel--@ 100 mg. He said he knew nothing less would work for me. He was right--sometimes even the 100 mg. doesn't work!

Logged

"No one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences."--Albert Camus, "The Plague"

"Mankind can never be free until the last brick in the last church falls on the head of the last priest."--Voltaire

Hi all. Have my periods of insomnia as well. I've posted some natural means to help fall asleep in the past. Just a quick review...warm milk, chamomille tea, valerian root ( smells like cat sh*t) but works. 2 months ago, I started accupuncture, and am amazed with the results. Sleeping a solid 6+ hours most nights. Just my 2 cents as alternatives to meds...give'em a try! Brian

edit on 6/13...you might also have a nice turkey dinner which contains L-tryptophane, a natural sedative, just think of the naps you've enjoyed after thanksgiving dinners...L-tryptophane is also available in tablet form at any vitamin supplier. nighty nite, sleep tight

« Last Edit: June 13, 2007, 07:39:26 PM by BriGuyNY,NY »

Logged

The strongest warrior, is the one who conquers himself....Aztec warrior

Pre-emptive measures will, I'm sure, work well, but for those of us who enjoy better living through chemistry, the 1mg Clonazepam my doc prescribed works without fail for me. A few months with no more than 2-3 hours sleep each night tends to make one just a bit edgy. I've been to that edge.

Logged

"There is no beginning. There is no end. There is only the infinite passion of life." -Frederico Fellini